Sometimes to sell comics, it's necessary to bend the truth a bit. It's a competitive game, particularly in the modern era where comics must compete with literally everything else for people's attention. Not only that, but sometimes stories require some fabrication to keep the plot unpredictable.
DC Comics, like any good comic company, has been known for including misleading details, all for the sake of garnering a bit of extra attention. It can be as simple as coming up with a cover that doesn't represent the insides at all, or promoting the story in a way that's completely the opposite of what's going to happen. It's a great idea, so long as people stay intrigued enough to pick up the comic.
10 Superwoman Gave Misleading Hints About The Hero's Identity
When DC decided they were going to do a Superwoman comic, they made it seem like both Lois Lane and Lana Lang were going to be twin superheroes working in Metropolis together. Lois was the "main" Superwoman, who seemed intent on convincing Lana Lang to join her.
In Superwoman #1 by Phil Jimenez, Matt Santorelli, Jeromy Cox, and Rob Leigh, readers learn the series isn't going to be anything like what they believed. The first issue features Lois convincing Lana to become Superwoman... just in time for Lois to be killed at the end of the issue.
9 Seven Soldiers Features The Original Team Dying In The First Issue
The opening issue of Seven Soldiers by Grant Morrison, J. H. Williams III, Dave Stewart, and Todd Klein wants the reader to believe the story will be about seven unknown heroes learning to face a dangerous threat. Technically, it's true. It just doesn't involve the heroes featured in that issue. A collection of six heroes get together to track down a dangerous threat in a gulch out West.
Although they've never worked together, they form a bond that allows them to defeat their enemies, and feel a sense of triumph and that they're only getting started. By the end of the issue, all six heroes are killed by the Sheeda, a ravenous race from the far future looking to strip the present of all its resources. Despite the name, the actual Seven Soldiers never even work together to defeat the threat. Instead, their individual contributions get the job done.
8 Batman: Battle for the Cowl Never Features Batwoman
Readers flocked to the event Batman: Battle for the Cowl to learn who the next Batman was going to be. At the time, the hype around Batwoman was high considering she'd yet to debut anywhere other than the weekly series 52. With that in mind, the cover of Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1 by Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Ian Hannin, and Jared K. Fletcher prominently featured Batwoman.
It would be easy to believe Batwoman was going to play a significant part in Battle for the Cowl, but anyone who bought the comic for that reason was led astray. The actual comic featured Batwoman in exactly one panel before never referencing her again.
7 Flamebird And Nightwing Weren't Who People Thought
The "New Krypton" storyline was especially cruel to hardcore fans of the admittedly large Superman family. In the middle of the story arc, DC introduced two new characters, Flamebird and Nightwing. Each character had powers that were similar to fan-favorite characters Linda Danvers and Kon-El, the '90s version of Supergirl and Superboy.
Unfortunately for those long-time fans, neither guess was correct. DC intentionally mislead readers as a red herring, and it turned out these characters were Thara Ak-Var, Kara Zor-El's old friend, and an aged-up Chris Kent, Superman and Lois' adopted son.
6 Batgirl Has More Trouble With Batwoman Than People Would Guess
The cover to Batgirl vol. 3 #12 by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes, Ulises Arreola, and Dave Sharpe indicates Batgirl and Batwoman get into a serious conflict. While that's true, it's not nearly as balanced in Batgirl's favor as Barbara fans may have liked. Instead, Batwoman gets the drop on Barbara and hammers her pretty hard.
Barbara tries to talk sense into her, but Kate doesn't have any of it. Bleeding, Barbara resorts to asking Kate to stop beating her up. While the element of surprise plays a big part, if Batgirl fans wanted to see Barbara Gordon show off her martial arts skills, they won't get it here.
5 The Batwing Comic Wanted People To Think Batwing Dies
If fans believed the cover of Batwing #19 by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Jason Wright, and Taylor Esposito, then the previous version of Batwing suffered a pretty horrible fate. Especially considering DC was already advertising that someone new would take over the identity. However, the issue itself isn't nearly as bad as the cover suggests.
The main character, David Zavimbe, finishes up all the missions he had as Batwing and gives up the mantle. Rather than Batman causing David to quit, he accepts David's choice and passes an improved version of the costume on to a new hero: Luke Fox, Lucius' son.
4 Supergirl Doesn't Try To Kill Superman
Supergirl had a lot of problems when she was reintroduced to the DC Universe. No one was actually sure what they wanted the character to be, leading to multiple origin changes from issue to issue. By the time of Superman: New Krypton, they had to come up with an explanation for why she had so many conflicting memories.
In Supergirl vol. 5 #19 by Joe Kelly, Ale Garza, Sandra Hope, Marlo Alquiza, Richard Friend, Rod Reis, and Rob Leigh, the cover doesn't just show Supergirl standing over Superman's body. It directly says "The Death of Superman Again!" In the end, the issue doesn't even have a fight between them. It's more focused on Kara acclimating herself to the DC Universe, and it ends with Superman and Supergirl sharing a hug.
3 Robin Rises Made People Think There Would Be A New Robin
With Damian Wayne having fallen a year prior at the end of Grant Morrison's time on Batman, it wasn't hard to believe that a crossover called Robin Rises might introduce a new Batman. There were plenty of candidates, but mostly fans had their eyes on Duke Thomas, a character introduced during Scott Snyder's "Zero Year" storyline as a kid and who was now an adult.
Instead of there being a new Batman, DC just brought back the previous candidate, Damian Wayne. As for Duke, he never turned into a Robin. Instead, he eventually took on the role of Signal, patrolling Gotham City during the daytime.
2 Green Lantern Teased Wiping Out Kyle Or The Darkstars
Green Lantern Vol. 3 #74 by Ron Marz, Darryl Banks, Romeo Tanghal, Linda Medley, and Albert DeGuzman was meant to finish up the story of Green Lantern and the Darkstars versus Darkseid's illegitimate son Grayven. Grayven had torn through multiple planets and decimated the Darkstar forces, so the last issue of the storyline teased that one of the three major protagonists would die.
Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner, and John Stewart were all at risk. It wasn't going to be Kyle, but with Donna and John both less important than they'd been in the past, both could've easily been killed. However, the book didn't show anyone being killed. The crossover itself didn't even end until the next issue... where everyone survived.
1 Armageddon 2001 Changed Its Ending To Keep Viewers In The Dark
The storyline of Armageddon 2001 made for a cool mystery. Ten years in the future, a superhero fed up with the injustice in the world transformed themselves into a dictator known as the Monarch. The comics constantly hinted that the Monarch could've been "anyone." Eventually, a time traveler went back in time and figure out which hero it really was.
When Monarch's identity, the unlikable Justice League hero Captain Atom, was leaked early, DC changed it. Suddenly, Monarch was actually Hawk, despite events in the story that proved it couldn't have been Hawk. This weakened the impact of the story, and DC spent years retconning parts of it after the fact.